Wobbuffet, and the Curse of the Gengar
by Ambezua
Summary: Ash, Misty, Brock, and Pikachu become lost in some strange woods... A dark shadows them wherever they go... And an unexpected hero will arise! An AAMR that both long-time fans, and the casual reader, will be able to appreciate. R&R!
1. The Beginning

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. All characters are the property of Nintendo

Ambezua: Hello, Pokemon fans! I guess you were brave enough to read my story... I hope it can live up to your expectations Please try to keep your comments positive, and helpful, not just "that's a horrible story!" or anything like that. I am a pokemon fan, but I am mostly writing this to get better experience with writing. And... What better thing is there to be writing about? Anyway, I am sure you are more interested in reading the story, not my personal monologue, so, here we go!

Wobbuffet and the Curse of the Gengar

Chapter one: The Beginning.

Late one afternoon, a small group of travelers, lead by a young teenager around the age of fourteen, followed a road through some woods. These woods, however, were unlike any woods they had traveled through before. as they walked, it was deathly silent, not even the leaves of the trees rustled in the wind. The only sound they could hear was the soft sound of their feet walking along the path.

Their leader, whose name was Ash, had black, spiky hair which jutted out to the sides of his pokemon league hat. On his hat sat his small, rodent-like creature. He was about the size of a large rabbit, and had bright, yellow fir with brown markings, and small, black eyes which kept a careful watch on the road ahead. He had two red pots, one on each cheek, which stored electricity. When irritated or angry, sparks would leap from his cheeks. He would often release the stored electricity in short bursts, as a type of electric attack. He was quite intelligent, and could even talk, although only Ash could actually understand much of what he said. To the others, the only word he seemed to say was "Pikachu," which also happened to be the rodent's name.

Ash held a map out in front of him, with an appearance of confidence, as he hoped against hope that he could figure out where they were before either of his two companions could fully realize the situation that they found themselves in. It grew darker, and a mist began to rise from the ground and form into a thick fog.

A young teenaged girl, around the age of their leader, perhaps a bit older, walked next in line. She glanced at the sides of the road, a bit concerned that something might jump out of the mist and attack. At the moment, at least, she was too absorbed in her surroundings to take much notice of anyone or anything else. She kept her thoughts to herself, but couldn't help looking a bit distressed. Misty, for that was her name, had bright red, short hair. She had pulled it back into a short ponytail, which jutted out to one side. A much older, taller young man, who looked to be around the age of eighteen, walked behind her. Brock, for that was his name, had spiky black hair just like Ash, but stood much taller and had much broader shoulders. He walked with a wide stride, slowly walking along keeping a careful watch over the others.

'I am sure that we just passed that road... was it route 44, or route 43? Gah... Why does this always happen?' Ash thought to himself.

"What's wrong, the great pokemon master can't even use a map?" Misty asked provocatively, as she finally took notice of Ash's nervous behavior,"how can you expect to get anywhere if you keep getting us lost!"

Misty and Ash had known each other a long time. She first began traveling with him when his Pikachu accidentally fried her bike to a crisp. Ever since, she had followed Ash around on his adventures. From the moment she met, she knew that there was something special about the boy. Time after time, Ash had shown that he was unique, from saving the world, to risking his life to save his friends. She had grown to be quite fond of Ash, although she never directly told him so. Of course, Ash was not perfect. Misty would often ridicule him for his rashness, and often dismissed him as dense. Her fondness of him had become quite evident over the past few weeks, but Ash remained oblivious.

'He is always doing this to us!' Misty thought to herself 'If he gets us lost one more time, I am REALLY going to lose my temper... Watch out Ketchum!... Oh, who am I fooling... I actually enjoy the excitement that I get from our adventures... I just wish he could find adventure in a slightly less obnoxious way.'

Misty could never stay mad at Ash for long. They would always make up later. Even though they did not ever verbally acknowledge the fact, they were the best of friends.

"We are not lost!" Ash yelled back.

"We are right here, just south of the intersection of route 43," he continued, with a proud grin.

Misty shot him a intense glare, as if she were boring a whole right through him.

'He thinks he is SO smart, does he? Well, I suppose it is possible for him to get something right...'

Ash, thinking it wise not to push Misty's patience any further, backed away... Slowly... Her patience was not her strongest virtue, and whenever she lost her temper, it often resulted in physical blows to his body.

"Uh," Brock grabbed the map from Ash's hands and looked over the it briefly, "we can't be south of route 43..."

Misty completely lost her temper. She seemed to grow to twice her normal size, she glared at Ash, who was obviously intimidated at her appearance.

"You really did it this time, Ash Ketchum!" Misty screamed, "Admit it, you have absolutely no idea where we are! We are completely and utterly LOST! And, it all your FAULT!"

"Ok, ok, your right..." Ash backed away, closing his eyes, hoping that an apology would save him from the inevitable, "we might be a bit lost..."

Instead of pacifying her, however, his apology infuriated her more. (if this was even possible)

"Your hopeless!" she huffed, and slammed him with her mallet, "I can't believe I keep traveling with you! A slugma could make better time! He could probably read a map better too!"

This was more than Ash could take. A slugma was a slow, fire-type creature, which was not known for its intelligence. Ash didn't have much more patience than Misty did, and he certainly didn't like Misty yelling at him, and insulting him, even though he knew that she really didn't mean it.

"WHAT?!" he shouted back, still rubbing his head from the mallet impact from earlier.

"Yeah, you heard me right, a SLUGMA,"

"If you think I'm such a bad leader, why don't you, miss scrawny, try figuring out that map?"

Misty did not, in fact, have a very well "filled out" frame, and she hated it when he brought up that fact.

"Who are you calling SCRAWNY? huff We let you lead because you always insist upon doing things your way, at your pace-"

"Will you two cut it out? Your bickering is fit to wake the dead." Brock said, hoping to stop the argument before it got any more out of hand.

Brock had also traveled with Ash for quite a long time. He first met Ash when Ash came to his battle gym to try and earn a badge. Brock's rock-type pokemon stood strong against Ash's electric and flying-type pokemon. But, during the battle, the water sprinklers in the gym were set off, weakening his pokemon. Ash took advantage of this situation, since Brock's pokemon were weakened by the water, but couldn't find it within him to beat Brock just because of a stroke of luck. He didn't officially win, but Brock sill gave him the badge, since he saw that Ash had a good heart, and wanted to fight fairly. He thought of Ash and Misty as his younger brother and sister. He often took it upon himself to act as the father figure, and dissipate arguments before they got too much out of hand.

"Pika, Pika!" chimed in Pikachu, lending his support to Brock.

Pikachu had been Ash's first pokemon, and had become one of Ash's strongest fighters. He was an electric-type pokemon, who hated to be kept in a pokeball, as most other pokemon did. Ash graciously allowed him to walk along with them on their adventures. Pikachu had known Ash for many years, and had grown quite close to his master. Ash seemed to consider Pikachu more like a little brother.

Ash and Misty, however, took little notice of Pikachu and Brock, and continued fighting.

Pikachu knew that Ash and Misty didn't really mean what they said to each other, especially when they began attacking each other personally. He did, however, get quite tired of their constant arguments. 'Humans are so complicated... If they were such good friends, which I know they are, why did they act like they hate each other so often? They are acting so immature...'

Pikachu sighed, He had spent several years with both Ash and Misty, yet, he still couldn't quite put his finger on what cuased them to act in such a way. He hopped to the ground, and began walking along by himself, careful not to stray too close to the two bickering teens, in case Misty got out of hand with her mallet. Misty always carried her weapon of choice with her, hid from sight, which would pop out behind her whenever she felt the need to hit someone.

It seemed like another perfectly normal day... Then he smelled something...

"You know what?" said Brock suddenly, causing Pikachu to lose his concentration, and forget about the odd smell, "I think you two fight so much because you like the attention that you get from each other when you do."

"WHAT ARE YOU IMPLYING?" shouted Misty her rage now taking another target.

"Well... Uh..." Brock stammered.

Even Brock didn't want to be object of Misty's anger.

Meanwhile... In the nearby woods...

"There they are, the little twerps, and their Pikachu," observed Jesse, and she watched them from a distance with her binoculars.

Team Rocket was organization of corrupt pokemon trainers whose gaol was to steal rare and powerful pokemon form their trainers. Their boss, Giovanni, had ordered three of his agents to steal Ash's Pikachu. The three agents were Jessie, a strong-willed, loud-mouthed women who often took the leadership position in the group, James, a weak, timid man who would often take the brunt of Jessie's wrath whenever their plans would fail, and Meowth, a cat-like pokemon who had learned how to speak english rather fluently, although he did have a bit of a speech impediment. Time after time, they had been foiled in their attempts to capture Pikachu. But, they simply wouldn't give up.

""Really? Can I see?" asked James, a little sheepishly.

"Yep, it's dem all right," confirmed Meoth, looking through his own binoculars.

"Get your own binoculars, James!" Jesse replied, "can't you see that I am thinking up another one of my brilliant plans?"

James sat down, a bit annoyed how Jesse would yell at him all the time.

At the moment, Jesse could care less how James felt. 'Hm... well, they seem a bit distracted... perhaps we could just run up and grab the little electric rat... no... that wouldn't work... besides, we always have to do the motto first...' Jesse thought to herself. She didn't want to mess this one up, given how poorly things always went whenever they tried to capture Pikachu, and with such ease they had been foiled, again and again...

"How long is this going top take, Jess?"James asked, having gotten quite bored listening to the distant sound of Ash and Misty fighting

"Just give me a minute, will you!" she shouted back, seariously considering administering the "fan treatment" to James.

"WOBBUFFET!" (that's right!) said Wobbuffet cheerily, as he once again managed to escape his pokeball and pop up right in front of Jessie.

Wobbuffet was a strange creature. It was quite blobby, and had blue, rubbery skin. Unlike most pokemon, it would often escape from it's pokeball and pop up at inopportune moments, much to the dismay of his owner, Jessie. It couldn't actually attack other pokemon, rather, it waited for it's opponent to make the first move, then used it's special power to absorb the attack, and send it back at his opponent for twice the damage.

Jesse was just about to yell at Wobbuffet, and tell him to get back into his pokeball, when a devious plan began to form in her mind... A slightly evil grin spread across her face. The little twerps won't know what hit them...

"Perfect!" she shouted.

"Keep it down!" ordered Meowth,"do ya want da brats to hear us?"

'Sometimes,' Meowth thought to himself, ' I wonder what gets into her head... At least her plans rarely have anything to do with a hole, though...' Meowth cringed, remembering how many times they had fallen into their own trap.

Jessie quickly gathered her team together into a huddle, and began to explain her latest plan.

Team rocket, however, was not the only one who was making plans for the four young travelers.

_Hm... _A dark figure thought to himself. _This may factor nicely into my situation... If only I can get him a bit closer... It might just work... I guess I will just have to wait and watch... Soon I will be free to roam the world once again!_

Ambezua: I know... I purposely placed the chapter here for the suspense to take maximum effect... I can be SO cruel at times...Oh, and did I happen to mention that I hid several "easter eggs" in this story? See if you can find them... Anyway, let's move on.


	2. A Turn for the Worse

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. All characters are the property of Nintendo

Ambezua: Oh? What's that? You want the rest of the story? Well, be my guest... and be sure to keep your eyes peeled for those "easter eggs" I carefully hid...

Chapter Two: A Turn for the Worse

Brock had managed to get Misty and Ash to calm down, although it had cost him significant bodily pain. He rubbed his sore head and back. 'why does she have to be so violent whenever I even IMPLY that she might have some interest in Ash... I mean, come on, isn't it obvious? What girl would follow a guy around for YEARS just because he owes her a bike? Ash might be dense... but could he really be _that_ dense?' Brock took one look at Ash, who was currently sulking, then turned to Misty, who quickly jerked back her head from staring at Ash. Even in the darkness, Brock could tell that Misty was blushing. 'Yep... He really is that dense...'

He often considered Misty's violent attitude toward Ash simply an attempt to mask her true feelings. Ash was a bit harder to read, however. He seemed to keep his mind bent focused pokemon, particularly, earning a badge, winning a tournament, or catching a new pokemon. At times, he would seem a bit hurt at Misty's rants, but he never seemed to let it get to him. He seemed to think of her as a close friend. If Ash had any interest in Misty, other than that of a friend, Brock couldn't say for sure.

They continued along the path, in relative silence. Brock and Pikachu were glad that the fight had ended, yet couldn't help but feel a erie sort of presence was at work. Then... The sound of familiar voices caused the four travelers to stop dead in their tracks.

"Prepare for trouble... "

"...and make it double!"

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all peoples within our nation!"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"

"Meowth! That's right!"

Team Rocket stood in the middle of the path and struck a pose as they finished their motto.

"TEAM ROCKET!" shouted Ash, Misty, and Brock, in unison.

"PiPikachu!" (Team Rocket!) said Pikachu

"Wobbuffet!" (That's right!) replied Wobbuffet.

"Ok, twerp, hand over the pikachu!" Jessie ordered

"Yeah, we wouldn't want anyone to get hurt..." James said with a slight grin.

Jessie and Meowth gave James a sideways glance, as if they didn't quite like how James had phrased his comment. Even then, however, they showed no sign of coming forward to take Pikachu by force, neither did they summon their pokemon for a battle.

Ash was a bit confused at Team rocket's behavior, but wasn't in any mood to chat with them. He wanted to finish this quickly.

"You aren't going to get Pikachu! You know what to do, Pikachu," Ash nodded to his friend, "Thunderbolt!"

"Pika-Chuuuuuuuu," said Pikachu, as he leapt up into the air, his electric sacs sparking and sputtering. He doubled up, and released a strong jolt of energy, known as a thunderbolt.

Yet... this time, Team Rocket stood their ground, Jessie even smiled a bit. Ash and his friends looked on, a bit puzzled, as Team Rocket stood motionless and watched the attack come closer and closer.

"NOW!" yelled Jessie, throwing a pokeball in front of them, "Wobbuffet, reflect that attack!"

"Wobb... uffet" (Ok... Here goes!) replied Wobbuffet, as he began to glow. He absorbed the entire thunderbolt, then unleashed the attack, at twice the size, and intensity, as the original attack.

Ash, Misty, Brock, and Pikachu, with wide eyes, could only look on in terror as the enormous blast engulfed them...

"Good going Wabbuffet, they didn't know what hit them!" Jessie hugged Wabbufett happily, then began jumping around joyously.

"Woooba..." (don't mention it...) Wobbuffet beamed, quite pleased with himself.

"I'm glad someone else besides us got the senses knocked clean out of them!" James joined in.

"Yeah, it seems like our luck is beginning to change." replied Meowth, letting himself enjoy the sweet savor of victory, even if they had not yet completed their mission.

"Well? What are you standing around for? Let's grab that Pikachu before they wake up!" ordered Jessie.

"Yes, Sir!" both Meowth and James replied, saluting Jessie. They ran over, grabbed the slightly singed, and completely senseless pikachu, and ran off into the woods.

Of the four friends, Pikachu was the only one who had stayed relatively close to the path. The rest had been blasted clear off the path from the force of the attack. Misty had flown off to the right, and landed into a tall tree. It's tangled branches held her from slipping. Brock and been sent backward several meters, and landed on a rock outcropping off to the side of the path. Ash had been sent to the left of the path, and had landed in a small clearing in the trees near a burned-down cottage.

For a time, the woods had once again grown quiet.

_Now is my chance..._

Ambezua: MUAH HA HA! I know... Short chapter... and I managed to cut the chapter, right when things are beginning to get interesting! Anyway, onward we go...


	3. Lost in the Woods

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. All characters are the property of Nintendo

Ambezua: Where did we last leave our heroes? Ah, yes... I remember now...

Chapter three: Lost in the Woods

Ash was the first to wake up. He tried to sit up, and managed to do so... painfully. He shook his head, trying hard to remember what had just happened. A sharp jolt of pain leapt up his side, and he fell back onto his back. He stared up into the deep, pitch-black sky... Then, he remembered... He shut his eyes tightly, trying not to think of what could happen to Pikachu if he didn't find him soon. Ash forced himself to stand up, and painfully began looking for the path... and his friends. He turned around, but still couldn't manage to find any clue as to where to go. He felt very alone... 'where are you guys?' he thought to himself. 'what if they are hurt... what if they-' He couldn't even bear the thought of it, he just HAD to find them. He limped off into the forest, without much thought as to where exactly he was going.

While Ash continued search for his friends, Misty began to regain consciousness. She felt something wrapped around her, holding her.

"Ash?" she asked weakly. 'Had that dolt finally realized how much he means to me?' she thought to herself. Her vision was still very fuzzy, and she could only make out that something was holding her very close, and held her very securely with it's long, thick arms. She began to wrap her arms around the thing, which she had convinced herself was Ash. She laid her face against it. But... something was wrong... it felt... rough... like... bark... Suddenly, she realized that she was hugging a tree.

"A TREE?" she gasped, almost losing her balance, "wha-what am I doing up here?"

'Humph... I should have known better... that dim-wit will never feel anything for me other than just a friend, who am I fooling?' she thought to herself, more than a little annoyed at her own foolish behavior. 'yet... that doesn't explain where I am...' Then, it came to her. she remembered the blast, and the pain... then the darkness...

She quickly cleared her thoughts, and began rubbing her limbs in an attempt to restore feeling to them. Thinking about the past wasn't going to help the situation. She managed to climb down the tree with little difficulty, and landed into the small stream that ran below it.

'Ok, now what...' she thought to herself, 'Well, I can't go after Pikachu myself, I will need some help. Besides, those guys might be hurt. Ash might be brainless, and Brock might be a annoying with his drooling over girls all the time, but neither of them deserve to be abandoned. Boy is Ash going to get it when I find him! It was his fault, after all, for delaying us, AGAIN, and getting us lost... No, what am I thinking... It's not his fault... It's mine, for being so mean to him all the time...' she felt tears begin to form in her eyes 'perhaps if I weren't so mean to him all the time Ash would realize... Oh, forget it Misty!'

She shook her head to drive the thoughts away, and managed to calmed herself.

'Focus, Misty,' she told herself, 'now is not the time for this... Brock and Ash are most likly hurt, worse than I am. I have to find them and make sure that they are alright.'

She decided to trek off into the woods, calling her friend's names, in hopes that they might hear her and call out to her.

Brock lay on the pile of rocks... Slowly, he regained consiousness.

"Gah..." Brock sighed, and he tried to sit up, "I feel like I was beat up by a hitmontop... Ow... my back..." Brock managed roll over, and lifted himself off the ground by pushing up with his hands. 'now I know what a Team Rocket feels like when they get 'blasted off' by Pikachu...' Brock thought to himself. 'Wait...'

Suddenly, he remembered. He glanced about, looking for his friends. "I gotta go find them!" he yelled out into the silent night. He stood up and tried to run, but simply landed back onto his face. 'Great... this is going to be harder than I thought...'

Meanwhile, Team Rocket was enjoying their triumph... Sadly, their mirth wouldn't last much longer.

"We got da pikachu!" chanted Meowth, as they marched through the woods.

"Yes, and it was one of MY brilliant plans," Jessie replied.

James wasn't so enthusiastic, he didn't like how they had just left the kids in the woods, without even making sure that they were alright. He never really disliked them, even though they DID make their job very umplesent. After all, it was just his job... He couldn't help but worry about them... Just a little...

"You ok, James?" asked Meowth, who, of the three, was the most observant.

"Yeah... It's just... I can't help but wonder what assignment the boss will send us off to next," James lied.

Before Meowth or Jessie could think of what to say...

_"Hello..." _called an eerie voice, which didn't seem to come from any particular direction, rather, it seemed to come from, well, everywhere!

"D-d-dI-did you hear that, James?" stuttered Jessie.

"Y-y-yeah..." replied James, who jumped behind Jessie and began frantically looking around for the source of the voice.

"Aw... that's nothing..." Meowth said with a visage of confidence, "It's just the wind... or some kid trying to be funny..."

"You s-sure, Meowth?" asked James, feeling a tad bit better at the sound of Meowth's confidence.

"Well... I was... before I saw THAT!" Meowth pointed toward a large, black cloud, which passed through tree and rock alike... straight toward Team Rocket.

"LET"S GET OUTTA HERE," Jessie, James, and Meowth yelled, and began to run, being careful to pick up Pikachu who had been stashed way in a rubber sack.

"WABBUFFET!" (That's right!) said Wabbuffet, as he ran along with them.

"Wabbuffet, return," ordered Jessie, as she drew out her pokeball to store him away. Just as she turned to look back where she was going, however, she saw the black shadow was right in front of her. She fainted... and the voice began to quietly chuckle...

Ash continued to rush through the thick undergrowth, scanning the woods for any sign of his friends. He wasn't paying close enoguh attention to his path of travel, and slammed right into a Vileplume. A Vileplume is a strong, plant-type creature. It's pollen and spores could poison or cause it's victim to fall asleep in a matter of seconds. It had a large, red bloom that grew out of the top of it's head, and short stubby arms and legs for mobiliy. Although Ash had jsut slammed right into it, the Vileplume didn't seem too interested in battling. It was too busy spreading pollen in the air, and quietly mumbling it's name to itself.

"Vile...plume..." it muttered

Ash quickly filled his lungs with air, and ran from the Vileplume, hoping that he hadn't taken in too much of it's pollen. He continued on his way, a little more careful this time. Before he got much further, however, a dark shadow enveloped him.

Misty continued walking along, calling for her lost friends. As she walked, she found it odd how there didn't seem to be any nocturnal pokemon in these woods.

'at least,' she thought to herself, 'I won't see any disgusting bugs...'

Misty had long harbored a severe dislike for bug pokemon. Ash seemed to think of her attitude toward them as irrational, as he loved bugs. Misty, however, hated the very sight of them. She didn't want to be anywhere within a mile of a bug pokemon if she could help it. The only bug pokemon she had ever even remotely liked was Ash's Butterfree, who had long since been releaced.

She continued on her way, perhaps a bit paranoid that she might run across a bug pokemon. She was jsut comming to the top of a small hill when she tripped on a gnarled tree root and tunbled down the side of the hill. When she looked up, all she could see what an enormous spinerack, a spider-like pokemon. At least... it seemed enormous to her, since she was only a few inches away from it. She screamed, jumped up off the ground, and began running the opposite direction, leaving the slightly confused spinerack far behind.

she ran for a good fifteen minutes before she collapsed onto the ground, her back resting against a large tree. She sighed in relief.

"that was a close call..." she sighed

After a few minutes of resting, she picked herself back up and began walking... or rather wandering, through the woods. She couldn't help but get the feeling that she was being followed. She glanced over her shoulder to see a large, dark shadow creeping along behind her. She screamed bloody murder, and began racing through the trees, the shadow close behind.

Brock had managed to get back onto his feet, albeit with considerable difficulty. His back felt like it was going to snap it two.

"Go, Geodude," he threw one of his pokeballs onto the ground. A small round creature, which bore a strong resemblance to a rock which had sprouted two long arms, two eyes, and a mouth, appeared and hovered over to Brock.

"Geodude, help me with my back," Brock groaned.

"Geo-geo" replied Geodude happily.

He gently laid brock back onto his back, rolled him over to his stomach, then began to massage Brock's back.

"Ah... much better"

"Geo...DUDE" Geodude replied, and slammed his fist onto Brock's back.

"OWCH, why did you do that, Geodude?" Brock snapped, quickly getting up and facing the small rock pokemon.

Brock didn't realize it yet, but all the pain in his back had fully subsided and he was now able to walk fully upright again.

"Geo, geo, geo..." Geodude chuckled.

"Oh... Thanks Geodude" Brock sighed, and called Geodude back into his pokeball.

Brock crouched over to look along the ground... Something just didn't seem right...

A dark shadow passed over Brock...

Ambezua: This is so much fun! How do you like the story so far? A bit cheesy? I hope not... I spent over three days on it!


	4. The Curse

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. All characters are the property of Nintendo

Ambezua: Ah... and what exactly DID happen to Team Rocket? Well, we will find out soon enough...

Chapter Four: The Curse

Jessie, James, Meowth, and Wabbuffet woke up, and found themselves quite unable to move. Some sort of aura surrounded them, making it impossible to move, yet allowed them to talk quite freely. They were suspended above the ground a few inches, and realized that they were in exactly the same position that they had been in moments after seeing the black shadow.

"This is all your fault, James!" Jessie accused

"Why is it MY fault, Jess? It was YOUR plan..." replied James, getting a bit annoyed.

"Will ya two cut it out... I would ratha not hear dat wight now..." Meowth moaned.

"Wabbuffet!" (that's right!)

"OH..." Jessie groaned "If only I could whack you three with my fan!"

"Ya know... all of a sudden, I like it when ya can't move." Meowth grinned.

Before Jessie could respond, they saw, or rather felt, the room grow dark, and dim... Then, they saw Ash, Misty, and Brock fad into veiw a short distance from them, trapped in the same strange aura.

"Look," Meowth pointed out, "its da brats."

"What are THEY doing here?" Jessie sneered, "Just when I thought things couldn't get any more miserable..."

They had heard Jessie's remark quite clearly, and didn't seem very happy about the idea of being stuck with Team Rocket either.

"Ok, Team Rocket, what's going on?" Ash asked suspiciously, "You already took my Pikachu, what more do you want from us?"

"What do you mean what are WE doing? Did it ever come into your severely limited mind that we are prisoners as well?"

Ash turned a dark shade of red...

"Why do I always jump to conclusions..."

"Ash? Is that you?" asked Brock.

"Yeah, it's me..."

"Well, that's good... Because I have a few things I have to talk to you about!" Misty piped up.

"Not right now, Mist..." Ash groaned.

"Why not? Why is now any worse than any other time? You haven't shown much interest in the time before, you don't even wear a watch! If you payed closer attention to the time, perhaps we wouldn't get lost as often. Perhaps we wouldn't be stuck here right now. Perhaps we could have gotten to the next town and be blissfully sleeping in real bed instead of being stuck in some strange energy field. You have always managed to get us into trouble, but nothing like this before! When I can move again, the first thing I am going to do is give you the biggest malletting you have ever gotten in your life!"

"Ok, Misty, you can stop flirting with Ash now..." grinned Brock, realizing that he was quite safe from Misty's rage.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!"

Brock seemed to be enjoying himself, that is, until the darkness began to materialize into a single being. It had short, stubby arms and legs, short stubby bat-like ears, and an almost spherical body. It was large, and dark-purple, almost black, in color. It had wide, deep red eyes, and a wide, grinning smile, so wide that it almost reached from his right side all the way to his left. It floated in place a few feet above the ground, slowly looking over his freshly caught prisoners.

"A Gengar..." Ash said quietly.

"A what?" asked Misty

"A Gengar, you know.. a ghost pokemon..."

"Is that all you know about it?"

Ash thought back upon the time that he had first seen a Gengar: when he had gone off to try and catch a ghost pokemon... He also remembered what his pokedex had told him when it scanned the Gengar... "Gengar," it began, it it's usual, strange voice, "a ghost pokemon, no other information available."

"Yeah..." Ash answered sheepishly

"Wow... That sure sheds some light on the situation..." Misty replied, with no effort to hide the sarcasm in her voice.

_"LIGHT?" _the Gengar gasped. It looked about for a bit, a bit distraught, but quickly recovered his composure.

_"Greetings!"_ It began, as if nothing had disturbed him, _" This is my humble abode... Feel free to stick around... Not that you could leave if you wanted to... Please allow me to explain why I have brought you here."_

"Ok," Ash spoke up.

"Perhaps you could be a bit more informative than Mr.Pokemon Master," Misty said with a tone of distain.

_"I have brought you here because I am under a curse... I am unable to leave these woods. A phycic tried to get in the way of my plans... She battled me, and eventually overpowered me. She set a curse upon me, which can only be broken if the right type of people are brought to this very place... to be bound to the woods in my place. At last, I now have all the things that I need. Soon.. I will be free!"_

The Gengar began to get excited, most likely because he now had an audience who seemed at least partially interested in what he was saying.

"That was a bit... cryptic..." mused Brock

"Remind you of anyone?" Misty mumbled.

"You know, I met a Gengar once... he was quite nice, and fun loving... Nothing like this Gengar at all." Ash explained, trying not to let Misty's annoying comments get to him, "He didn't have some strange plan to take over the world."

_"SO? You think that is my plan? No, no, no... I have something much more delicious in mind... I plan on eating the dreams of every sleeping soul in the world... and using it's dark power to cause darkness to reign upon the Earth forever! The light will no longer be a fear to ghost pokemon! They will hail me as a hero!"_

By then, the Gengar had become fully engaged in the discussion, obviously enjoying the shock that he saw in their eyes as he explained his "master plan."

"That's..." James paused, "Not the craziest plan I have ever heard..."

"SHUT UP!" shouted Jessie, who took James' comment as an insult.

"So... You said that you needed the right 'type' of people... would you mind explaining that?" asked Brock

_"Very well... I needed two pokemon... and five humans... one of which is known as the 'one', and two of which are bumbling fools. A lover or two isn't that bad either..."_

"Wow... Looks like you got just what you needed... eh?" Brock said nervously.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN?" yelled Jessie, "We are not bubbling fools!"

_"Heh, heh... You know, actually, I just put that part in there to annoy you..."_

Jessie sighed. This Gengar certainly did have a sense of humor, but it was beginning to really get on her nerves... In an odd way, she also found it's pleasant, almost host-like attitude unlikable as well.

"And what do you mean lovers? If you think I love that dense little nit-wit, you are seriously mistaken!" shouted Misty, obviously referring to Ash.

"Don't look at us either," continued Meowth, "just cus these two are close (obviously referring to Jessie and James) doesn't mean they are lovers... "

He paused briefly... "or does it?"

Meowth burst out laughing at his own joke.

"Cut that out Meowth! that's not helping any." shouted Jessie

_"Hm... You know... You might be right... But, I am able to enter your dreams and read your thoughts while you sleep... Nothing can be hid from me..."_

A cold chill ran down Misty's back... and she felt her face heat up. She knew that the Gengar could see right through her. 'Oh no... Now it has to go and ruin my friendship with Ash!... It's not like he feels the same way I do...' Thankfully for her, Ash was unable to move, and was in such a position that he couldn't even see Misty. Not that he would notice her odd behavior, even if he could see Misty...

Ash also felt a bit confused 'Wait... I can't be in love with Misty... She's just my friend... Who I would do anything for... Stop that, Ash!... She just happens to be VERY pretty... snap out of it, Ash!'

Ash closed his eyes and tired to regain control of his thoughts.

'It must be a mistake... Yeah, he must be talking about Team Rocket... Ok, so, even if I DO like her a bit, she doesn't love me, she probably hates me... Considering all the stuff I have put her through, how could she like me? She just keeps following me around because I still haven't payed her back for her bike... Besides, I could never tell her how I feel... It would most certainly ruin our friendship.'

_"You know, I am having lots of fun spending time with you guys, but, I really gotta run... Don't worry, the process only takes a few hours, and I will be back to make sure everything runs smoothy... Just to show you what a nice guy I am, I will let you all down now."_

All of the suspended pokemon and humans fell to the floor with a loud thud.

_"Now don't think about escaping, because I have sealed of all exits... See you all soon... You will be spending a lot of time here. See you all later..."_

With that, the Gengar faded from sight, once again becoming a dark shadow, which slowly faded.

Ash looked up, and began to look about the small room, or rather, cell. It seemed to be completely constructed of stone blocks, and had only one original exit... Which had been blocked by large boulders. The light that lit the room came from a VERY small hole in the upper corner of the room. It was the light of a full moon.

Ambezua: Don't you love a good villain? I mean... come on... Team Rocket doesn't exactly fit the bill... They are so predictable! (Keep looking for those "easter eggs")


	5. Temporary Allies

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. All characters are the property of Nintendo

Ambezua: Now... How are they going to get themselves out of this one? Huh... Oh, wait... I AM the author... I should know what happens next...

Chapter five: Temporary Allies

"This rock is very thick, and strong... and there is not enough room in here for me to let Onix out..." Brock mused, after studying the rock for quite some time, "I wouldn't want us all to get crushed by him."

Onix was a large, snake-like creature whose segments were made of of solid rock. Since he was over forty feet long, there was no possibility that he could ever fit into the small room. If it had been large enough, though, Onix could have smashed a hole through the rock walls with no trouble at all.

Misty turned to Brock, who was pretending to be still looking for a way out. She looked over at Ash, who looked like he had given up hope. He sat huddled in the corner of the room... Pikachu had managed to get out of the rubber bag and hop over to Ash. Team Rocket, seeing the predicament that they found themselves in, had lost interest in Pikachu. They felt that there were more pressing matters at the moment. Silence filled the room... No one needed to say it... They were trapped, and there was no way out. Pikachu tried to cheer Ash up, but to no avail.

'How could this happen?' Ash thought to himself 'I have let them all down... We are going to be stuck in here forever... in some small room, as we slowly starve to death... and it's all my fault! Misty's right... I am nothing but a dimwitted, dense, foolish, little kid... and now, because of me, I am responsible for getting all my friends killed!'

Tears began to roll down his cheek... and he didn't wipe them away. They began to strike the floor, silently splashing onto the stone floor.

'Why do I have to be so mean to him?' she thought, 'I should go talk to him... It's not like it is really his fault...'

She stood up and walked over to him and laid her hand onto his shoulder. His dark, brown eyes lifted from his knees briefly then sunk back down.

'Oh, great,' Ash thought, ' she has come to fulfill her promise for more abuse...'

He pulled way... and tried in vain to creep further back into the corner.

Misty stepped back a bit... A bit confused, but determined to right the wrong she had done.

She came up softly, and whispered to him,"I'm sorry... I shouldn't have said all those things... I was just scared... we all are... It's not your fault... At least you have Pikachu back.. and me-" She quickly added,"and Brock too! We are all here, and we will find a way out."

"Thanks," Ash whispered back.

Misty sat next to him, and placed her arms around him, in an attempt to hug him as he sat curled up.

'Perhaps she does care...' Ash thought to himself.

"Look, I know how touching this all is," began Jessie, "but it doesn't really get us out of here."

"Have any bright ideas, eh, Jess?" asked Meowth skeptically.

"Well... For starters, we aren't going to get far if we don't work together,"

"Wabbuffet!" (that's right!)

Everyone, except Wabbuffet, was quite shocked at Jessie's statement.

"You asked for a plan, and I have one... Now, listen closely, we will need everyone's help..."

The Gengar now hovered above the small, stone room he had left the humans and their pokemon in. He was busily pondering all the things he wanted to do when he was free...

_'First, I will gather up all my brethren, and we will terrorize all the nearby towns... Then, we will feast on the nightmares of an entire city... Oh, it has been too long since I had a nice, juicy nightmare..."_

He hardly noticed the sound of a small pokemon huffing and straining. He hovered a little lower to get a better look. Sure enough, he spied a pikachu, trying very hard to squeeze it's way out of the tiny hole.

_"Hmm..." _the Gengar mumbled out loud to himself, _"I suppose I COULD have some fun... After all, it HAS been over two hundred years since I last had a good battle."_

The Gengar once again dematerialized and want down to have a little "chat" with his prisoners.

Pikachu, who could feel the presence of the Gengar, scrabled back down the hole, and lept back over to Ash's side.

"Ok, that Gengar should be about ready to attack us... Remember, everyone, as soon as you see him..."

Jessie couldn't even finish what she was trying to say before the Gengar appeared before him. And from his looks, he didn't seem too surprised that they were trying to put up a fight.

"NOW!" Jessie yelled.

All the humans turned on their flashlights, and aimed them at the Gengar.

_"I HATE the light! I hate it, I hate it, I HATE IT!" _The Gengar fumed, then retreated back... right through the rock wall behind him... Unfortunately for him, he forgot to dematerialize before going through the wall... so...

SMASH

The Gengar left a huge, Gengar-sized hole in the side of the stone room! They were free... for now, at least.

Gengar might have expected them to put up a fight, but he hadn't expected them to be so brutal!

"GO, Onix!" Yelled Brock, threw his pokeball out the gaping hole.

"Onix!" (Ready, Master) Onix roared.

"Quickly, clear out those rocks and help us get out, Onix!" Brock commanded

"Onix, On-On" (Right away, Master) Onix replied, and began pushing and lifting the boulders from the hole.

As soon as he was finished, the humans scrambled along Onix's back, and out into the dark and misty night. They stood in a small clearing, and looked around... It looked like a... Pokemon battle arena...

It was completely constructed of stone blocks, and grass poked up through the cracks here and there... But what they saw next did not expect in the least. There stood (or, rather, floated) the Gengar, laughing quite loudly.

The Gengar found it quite amusing that his prisoners actually thought they had a chance to escape.

"Quick, everyone split up! If at least one of us gets away..." began Ash

_"Well, actually... about that... I didn't exactly tell you all the truth... You see, I only really need one of you... the 'one'... and I don't exactly need him to stay here in my place... I need to devour his ghost..."_

Brock, Misty and Ash all knew who he was referring to. Ash, on several occations, had been singled out as the 'one.' How exactly the Gengar knew Ash was the 'one' didn't seem particularly important at the time.

"What do you mean, 'devour his ghost' ?" asked Misty, perhaps a bit to harshly.

_"Why, my dear, I will have to kill him... and when he dies, I simply rush up and absorb him... like s sponge does water. It's quite simple, really."_

"You won't do that!" Misty yelled back, fighting back tears, "I won't let you."

She stepped out between the Gengar and Ash, with a defiant and determined look on her face.

"Hey, Kid, let's all take a stand, you aren't alone, you know." Jessie chimed in, "Wobbaffet, return, this is no place for you... Arbok, arrack!"

Arbok, one of Jessie's pokemon, was a snake-like pokemon. His body was about twenty feet long, and covered with purple scales. He had a wide hood, much like a cobra, which he spread when in battle to intimidate his foes. He was very loyal to Jessie, and enjoyed battling for her, even though he always lost when he fought against Ash's Pikachu.

"Wheezing, victreebell, you get in there too!" added James, and released his pokemon as well.

Wheezing was a poison-type pokemon. Like Arbok, he was purple, but didn't share many other features. He had two heads, one larger, one smaller, which were joined together by a small, middle section. The best way to describe him would be to liken him to a pair of large sack filled with poison gas, which would periodically let off a few puffs of smoke.

Victrebell was a plant/poison-type pokemon. His appearance was quite formidable. He resembled a giant yellow pitcher plant, whose acid was strong enough to melt through metal, and whose leaves were sharp enough to slice through even the toughest hides. he had a row of thick, sharp teeth that lined the edges of his mouth, giving his face the appearance of a wide grin. Although he looked impressive, he was very fond of his master, James. The odd part is that he would show his affection by jumping on James and munching down on his head. And this is exactly what he did, just as soon as James released him from his pokeball.

"CUT IT OUT! Attack the Gengar," James was in no mood for fooling around.

Victrteebell spit him back out, then turned to attack the Gengar.

"Starmie, Staru, Phyduck, and Politoed get out there and help, too!" ordered Misty, and sent her pokemon to battle as well.

All of Misty's pokemon were water-type pokemon.

Starmie and Staryu were both starfish pokemon. Staryu had five golden arms, and a large, gem at his center. Starmie had eight purple arms, and also had a large gem at his center. Other than appearance, they had very simmilar abilities. They could spin through the air, and shoot water out from their arms like a water cannon.

Psyduck looked like a perfectly ordinary yellow duck, but he was far from it. He was, technically, a water-type pokemon, and as such he would shoot out water much like Starmie and Staryu, but his most powerful attacks were actually psychic attacks. Partially due to this plurality of ability, the poor duck's mind was left in a constant state of confusion. He also had a never-ceasing headache, which could actually increase the power of his attacks the more severe it grew. Misty would often ridicule Psyduck for his mindless behavior, but he truly did try to do his best to please his master.

Politoed was a frog pokemon. Misty had trained him since he was a poliwag, so the two got along very well. He was a very strong battler. Given enough time, he could easily defeat any enemy with his parish song attack.

Ash sent out his pokemon as well.

"Come on, guys, let's make a stand, and show this Gengar how to really battle! He got beaten once, and we can do it too! Go, Pikachu, Bayleef, Bulbasaur, Noctowl, Kingler, and Cyndaquil!"

Bayleef was a plant-type pokemon, like Victreebell, but she was very much different in appearance. She had a long, neck, and four short legs. She had a single leaf on the top of her head that she could use to throw small, sharp leaf blades, known as razorleaves. She also had a ring of buds around the middle of her neck that could sprout long vines to whip her enemies. She was very fond of Ash, and would often jump on him and rub her face on him softly to show her affection. She was also quite jealous of all the attention Ash gave to Pikachu.

Bulbasaur was another plant-type pokemon. He resembled a small, short, stubby dinosaur with a bulb growing on his back. He walked on all fours, and had similar abilities as Bayleef.

Noctowl was a flying-type pokemon. He closely resembled an owl, and as could be expected, was nocturnal and very intelligent.

Kingler was a water-type pokemon, but most of his abilities were close-range attacks. He resembled a large fiddler crab, whose large, unwieldy claw and spiny shell gave him a somewhat awkward look.

Cyndaquil was a fire-type pokemon. He was about the same size as Pikachu, but resembled a shrew more than anything. flames would sprout out of his back for defense, and he could spew a powerful flame beam out of his mouth known as a flamethrower attack.

"Go, Onix, Geodude, attack!" shouted Brock

The mighty rock snake roared his challenge to the Gengar, eager to start the battle.

The small army gathered together, and prepared to attack...

Ambezua: this is going to be good... The next few chapters were the hardest for me to write, and I hope you enjoy all my hard work. The battle comes next...


	6. The Battle

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. All characters are the property of Nintendo

Ambezua: Now it's time for some ACTION!

Chapter six: The Battle

_"Well, I suppose it HAS been a while..." _the Gengar murmured to himself.

He flew up into the sky, and prepared himself for battle. His clenched fists gathered energy from the darkness, preparing for an attack known as a Shadow Punch. If executed properly, it could was never know to miss. His eyes began to glow, as he gathered energy for another type of attack, known as a shade attack. It was a beam of darkness, which would strike, and pass right through the victim, sapping it of its strength. He had another, even more unusual attack known as hypnosis. Any pokemon caught in it's ray would fall asleep. It did not, however, harm the enemy.

"GO, Pikachu, Thunderbolt!" Ash pointed toward the Gengar.

Pikachu leapt up into the air, his electric sacs sparking and sputtering. He doubled up, and released a strong jolt of energy, a thunderbolt. The Gengar simply dematerialized and let it pass right through him. Everyone gasped in astonishment...

"Wheezing, smoke screen, then tackle attack!" James ordered

Wheezing let out a cloud of smoke, filling the entire arena. He rushed forward, in an attempt to tackle him, but the Gengar could see through the smoke quite clearly and counter-attacked with a shadow punch. Wheezing fell to the ground with a loud thud.

"Victreebell, acid attack, then follow it up with a barrage of two razor leaf attacks!"

Victrebell spewed out a stream of acid, but the Gengar simply dematerialized once again, and let it pass right through him. Victreebell launched a barrage of razorleaves. The Gengar dodged the first volley, passed through the second, then shadow punched Victreebell at close range. Victreebell flew backward at the force of the punch, and slammed right into James.

"Onix, Geodude, create a sandstorm!" Brock commanded

Onix roared, and the wind began to pick up. Sand flew into the air, and surrounded the Gengar, who appeared to be a bit disoriented.

"Now, use rock throw!"

Onix and Geodude began hurling large boulders, but the Gengar stunned them with hypnosis, then followed it up with a shadow punch. Geodude was sent out of commision, but Onix kept holding on. He attempted to tackle the Gengar, but the Gengar retaliated with another shadow punch and a shade attack. Onix let out a mighty roar, and toppled over... With a loud thud, Onix lay on the ground, senseless.

"Onix, Geodude!" yelled Brock

"Cyndaquil, use flamethrower, Noctowl tackle the Gengar, then dodge his attack, Bayleef, use your whipvines to hold him in place, then pelt him with razorleaves. Bulbasaur, use your solar beam, Pikachu, use agility, then try another thunderbolt, then a thunder tackle. Kingler, use guillotine!" Ash shouted.

Cyndaquil filled himself with flames, then let out a beam of fire. The Gengar dodged to the side, then shadow-punched Noctowl into the Cydaquil's flamethrower attack, dematerialized so that Bayleef's whipvines and ravorleaves passed right through him, hit Bulasuar with hypnosis before he could fully charge his solar beam, dodged Pikachu's thunderbolt, then attempted to counter Pikachu's thunder tackle with a shadow punch. Pikachu was hit by the shadow punch, yet managed to shock the Gengar as well. Before the Gengar could finish Pikachu off, however, Kingler lept up into the air, trying to guillotine the Gengar. He simply hit Kingler with a hypnosis beam before Kingler was within range.

By this time, Noctowl had slightly recovered from his last attempt. He soared up into the cold, night air, then took a steep dive toward the Gengar. The Gengar began attacking him with shade attacks, which Noctowl easily dodged as he continued to pick up speed. The Gengar waited for Noctowl to get within rage, then, dodged to the side and slammed Noctowl with a shadow punch. With that, Noctowl as out for the count.

The Gengar then took on the offensive. He began by firing shade attacks at Cyndaquil. Cyndaquil jumped out of the way of the first, curled up into a ball and rolled away from the second, jumped up into the air once again to dodge the third, but was hit in mid-air by the fourth. Cynaquil retaliated with another flamethrower. The Gengar dove out of the way of the attack.

Bayleef rushed up to help Cyndaquil. She launched another barrage of razorleaves, followed up by whip vines. The Gengar slipped by the whip vines, then sped toward Bayleaf. The Gengar broke away to dodge another flamethrower from Cyndaquil, then managed to weave through Bayleef's razorleaf barrage without taking many hits. He blasted Bayleef twice with shade attack at close range, followed up by a shadow punch. Cyndaquil attacked with another flamethrower while the Gengar was focused on attacking Bayleef. The Gengar groaned in pain as the attack ripped through him. He then rushed up and finished off Cyndaquil with a shadow punch.

"Psyduck, attack with confusion beam, Starmie, Staryu, use water gun to stun him, then hit him with rapid spin. Politoed, start your Parish Song!" Misty ordered.

Psyduck raised his hands, and formed a small sphere of energy. the then released the energy as a wave of psychic power. The Gengar absorbed Phyduck's confusion beam, then blasted him with a shade attack. He was hit by the Starmie and Staryu's water guns, but shadow punched both Starmie and Staryu as they flew up for a rapid spin attack. He then managed to take down Politoed with a double-shadow punch combo.

Things were beginning to look pretty bad...

"Go, Arbok, use poison sting, then glare, then another poison sting. Whatever you do, don't let him get up close. Be sure to dodge those shade beams!" commanded Jessie, who had, by now, thought up a strategy.

Arbok spit out small, poisoned darts out of his mouth, dodged to the side, and continued pelting the Gengar. For a while, it seemed like things were looking better, as Arbok continued to dodge the Gengar's attacks, and kept backing away when he attempted to rush in for shadow punches. Sadly, though, Arbok didn't have as much resiliance as Gengar, and his poison stings didn't seem to have much of an effect on the Gengar. Arbok eventually tired, and was taken down by a shade beam.

"Pikachu, your up again! Use agility, then try Iron Tail, then another Agility!" Ash shouted.

"Pika!" Pikachu agreed, and rushed out to battle once again.

The Gengar focused his attack, then tried to do another double-shadow punch combo. But, this time, Pikachu was too swift, and easily dodged his attack. Pikachu then slammed the Gengar with his Iron Tail. Unfortunately, though, the Gengar was not stunned much from the attack, and managed to grab Pikachu's tail. He quickly swung Pikachu in the air, then threw him back toward the ground, followed by a shade beam. Pikachu was unable to dodge the attack and slammed down onto the ground.

"Pikachu! You have to get up! Your our last hope!" Ash reminded Pikachu.

Pikachu, with a great amount of pain, managed to stand back up. The Gengar, however, appeared to have lost his patience with Pikachu, and decided to end this little match of theirs.

He began power himself up for his ultimate attack. He grew larger, and darker... The pokemon and thier trainers looked on in terror as he unleashed a mighty hyperbeam, that swept across the field, and knocked Pikachu, and all the remaining pokemon, out cold! The humans were swept to the sidelines, slightly bruised, but otherwise unharmed.

_"That was fun... but as you can see, I have become much too powerful for your pathetic pokemon... I have become practically immune to all but the strongest attacks."_

"But, how did that psychic defeat you, then?" asked Ash

_"Oh, did I fail to mention that she only partially weakened me, and that she set the curse on me with her dying breath? How absent minded of me... The poor thing..."_

Anger began to fill Ash... But he knew it was no use... The Gengar was simply too strong.

_"SO, human, are you ready to surrender?"_

Ash stood for a moment... He couldn't allow his friends to die too.

"If all you need is me, let them go! You can have me!" shouted Ash.

"NO!" yelled Misty, stepping once again between the Gengar and Ash, "I can't just let you die."

"Misty? What are you doing, your just going to get yourself killed..."

"Ash..." tears began to well up in Misty's eyes, "Ash, I can't live without you... If you die, I will die too!"

She threw herself into his arms and waited for the inevitable sound of the hyperbeam beginning to power up again. This time... she knew that she was going to die... but... at least she was with him...

She knew what she had to do...

"Ash..." she whispered quietly

"Yeah, Misty?"

"I wanted to tell you this before, but I was scared to tell you before... I need to tell you before we die... I love you, Ash!" She blushed, and held him tighter. Tears ran down her cheeks, and began to dampen Ash's shoulder.

"Misty... I..."

She braced herself for what he might say next. She could faintly hear a distant hum as the hyperbeam continued to power up.

'do I love Misty?' Ash thought to himself

Images began to flash through his mind, snippets of his life that would help him answer his question. The time he first saw her face, as she fished him out of the water. The time he lifted Misty into the air as a ghost. The time he gazed upon her at the autumn festival. The time she chose himself over Rudy. And last, but not least, their tearful farewell... In his heart, he knew what the answer was.

"I love you too..."

She gave a sigh of relief... She felt like she was flying, falling, leaping... She knew she was going to die, but at least she had a few moments of joy to savor. She took her head off Ash's shoulder, and gently held his head in her arms. She lifted her lips up to his, and kissed him... Deeply...

Her first... and last kiss...

By this time, the hyperbeam had been fully powered, and the Gengar, hurled the devastating beam toward the two lovers...

But... Just as the attack was about to hit...

"WOBBUFFET!" (That's right!)

Wubbuffet popped out of his ball, right in between the hyperbeam, and it's target.

"Wobbuffet, what are you doing!?" screamed Jessie, "your going to get killed too!"

"WOOOOBBBUUU- FFFEEETT!!" (Not so fast!)

He quickly absorbed as much of the hyperbeam's energy as he could, then sent it back toward the Gengar.

The Gengar looked on in surprise, his deviously grinning face had been wiped clean off... The attack was not supposed to come back at him! This was going to hurt... a lot...

KABLAM!

An enormous explosion enveloped the arena, as the remaining energy from the hyperbeam struck Ash, Misty and Wobbafet, and the reflected beam hit the Gengar.

The Gengar went hurtling clear through the sky, landing several hundred feet away. He floated back up, determined not to get beaten...

Brock Rushed over to Misty and Ash... They didn't look so good... Their bodies had been battered, bruised, and burnt. They were barely breathing. Wabbufett didn't look too good either, but at least they were all still alive.

The Gengar floated back into the sky above them. He was almost enraged.

_"How could a pathetic Wabbuffet hurt ME?"_

"Well, from a tactical point of view, I think you got off rather well..." Meowth pointed out.

"Shut up, Meowth," shouted Jessie, "that's not helping! Perhaps you would like to attack the Gengar next!"

"You kiddin me?" Meowth snapped, "going up against dat thing is suicide!"

The Gengar began powering up once more, this time fueled by his anger and hate... They all knew that Ash, Misty, and Wabbuffet couldn't survive another blast like that, especially without Wabbuffet reflecting the attack again.

"Get up, Wabbuffet!" screamed Jessie

"Jess... it's no use..." James shook his head sadly

Jessie knew it was a vain thought, but still just couldn't give up.

Then... Something began to peer over the horizon...

Ambezua: Well, how did you like it? did you love it? Did you hate it? Tell me what you think... Oh, and MAJOR "easter egg" alert for the next chapter... for those of you who are still looking for them.


	7. Darkness Flees Before Light

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. All characters are the property of Nintendo

Ambezua: I know it's been fun... but I guess it's time to wrap things up...

Chapter seven: Darkness Flees Before Light...

_"NO! Not Dawn, I HATE Dawn!" _The Gengar cringed in fear and dread, as the sun began to peer over the horizon

_"It can't be... I am... fading..."_

The Gengar began to grow translucent, and decreased in size. His energy, and even his hold on the physical realm, had been severely weakened.

_"I will kill you all for this! You will pay dearly!"_

With that... The Gengar faded from sight entirely.

Brock rushed over to Misty and Ash's side...

They were still locked in each other's embrace, but he knew that they were alive. He smiled. He hoped that everything would be alright now... At least for a time.

Brock constructed two stretchers from tent poles and sheets, which he hoped would be strong enough to hold their weight.

Misty and Ash stared into each other's eyes... Too weak to move, yet they knew what the other was thinking... They were finally together, and they were happier than they could have ever imagined.

Jessie and James picked up their pokemon, and helped Brock lift Ash and Misty's limp bodies and gently lay them onto the stretchers. Jessie and Meowth picked up Misty's stretcher; James and Brock picked up Ash's stretcher. Brock led the solemn procession as they slowly, in single file, carried them out of the arena, and down a narrow path into the woods.

"Hold in there, buddy..." Brock whispered to Ash, who had long since lost consciousness.

As they walked, light began to slice through the trees, and seemed to bring the woods to life. The fog quickly vanished, fleeing from the warmth of the day. Woodland pokemon began to peer out of their hiding places and scurry through the trees and shrubs. Pidgies and Spearows began to fill the early morning air with their calls. Some caterpie crawled along the path, briefly stopping to stare at the humans as they walked along the path. The melodious hum of a group of vileplumes humming as they dropped off to sleep could be faintly heard in the distance.

Brock, however, took little notice of the change in scenery as they continued down the path. He was too conserned about his friends to pay attention to much else. James stumbled on a stone and rocked the stretcher slightly to the side. James quickly regained his footing, and managed to keep Ash from rolling off the stretcher.

"James, you klutz, watch what you are doing," Jessie snapped.

James glanced at Jessie nervously, but thought it best not to respond.

After half an hour of walking, the trees became less dense, and the path grew wider. As they came to the top of a hill, a small town could be seen in the distance. With a joyous shout, they hastened their pace and rushed down the hill.

"We are almost there, just keep holding on." Brock murmured, more for his own benefit than anyone else.

They entered the town and began frantically searching for a hospital. Townspeople could sense their urgency and gladly showed them the way. Several medical staff took the stretchers and brought Ash and Misty inside.

Brock gathered up the pokemon and Pikachu and walked off to find the town's pokecenter, a hospital for pokemon.

"I guess we will be seeing you all later..." James murmured.

"But don't think that we will go easy on you, just because we helped you out this time..." Jessie said quietly.

"Ya, so don't get any funny ideas..." Meowth mumbled, "We still need that Pikachu..."

They turned to leave, and gave a nod farewell. As they left, however, Jessie couldn't help but have a strange feeling that she had misplaced something...

A few days later...

Ash's eyes snapped open. He looked around the small, bare room. Light came threw the window to his right, and cast painfull beams of light onto his face. He sat up, pulled the covers off himself, and stat on the side of the bed.

FLASHBACK

_NO! Not dawn, I HATE dawn!" _The Gengar cringed in fear and dread, as the sun began to peer over the horizon

_"It can't be... I am... fading... I will kill you all for this! You will pay dearly!"_

END FLASHBACK

'what happened?' Ash wondered, he couldn't remember how he got into the bed. 'I must have blacked out...'

He suddenly remembered

'MISTY!'

'Where is she? Had she not made it?'

Brock opened the door, and walked in.

"Good to see that you are fine, buddy... It's not every day that someone takes a hit from a hyper beam and lives to tell about it," Brock grinned, "oh, and there is someone else who would like to see you..."

Pikachu hopped into the room, and jumped into Ash's arms. He began to coo softly, and rub his face on his shirt affectionately.

"Where is Misty?" Ash asked, as he stroked Pikachu.

"Well... She was in front of you when the hyperbeam hit... So, she did take more of a beating than you did... Would you like to go see her?"

Brock lead Ash to Misty's room, which was currently filled with her pokemon. They stood huddled around her bed, quietly watching her.

'She looks so... peaceful when she sleeps' Ash thought to himself, 'and so beautiful.'

He sat on the bed, and began to absent-mindedly run his fingers through her hair. She still had several large bruises, but she had recovered a great deal.

Misty heard voices... many voices... familiar voices... She tried to open her eyes, but they simply would not obey.

She couldn't feel her body... she could only see darkess...

'Am I dead?' she wondered.

Finally, she could feel again... The world she knew surrounded her one again. She felt safe and warm, and as soon as she opened her eyes, she knew why. There was Ash, hovering above her, his arms wrapped tightly around her. She could see the love and care in his large, dark, watery eyes. He brought his head lower...

"Come on, guys," she heard Brock say, "they look like they need some time alone."

For a while, at least, the only thing in the world that mattered to her was Ash...

Ash...

She lifted her head off her pillow and kissed him once more...

The feeling was indescribable, and she didn't want it to ever end...

Gasping for air, she broke the long, affectionate kiss. She smiled at Ash, who smiled back at her. Their troubles were finally over, for now at least...

She felt like she should savor the time they had left, before they continued on their journey... and before Ash got them lost again. She blushed at the thought of it... He was so cute! And best of all... He was all hers.

She loved everything about him, and didn't want to change a thing... Even if he annoyed her a from time to time.

Ash wrapped his arms around her... and nothing else seemed to matter to her...

"Wobbuffet..." (that's right...) mumbled Wobbuffet, who had somehow managed to be forgotten in Misty's room.

The End!

Ambezua: Yes, that's how I will leave it... Who knows, if I get enough reviews and stir up enough interest... I might even write a sequel. It's been really fun to write. Did you find all the easter eggs? If you think you did, send me a message, and I will confirm/deny your suspicions. PLEASE GIVE ME REVIEWS. I would like to know your opinion about my story, even if you disliked it. Until next time... See you all later!


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